Eternal Life
by hopeless-hapless
Summary: Vladislaus Dracula: cold, cruel and feared by many in his lifetime. Shrewd, corrupt and feared by millions in death. Dead? Not entirely. At least until now.


**Eternal Life [1/?]**

_AU Van Helsing; Vladislaus Dracula/OC_

_**Summary:** Vladislaus Dracula: cold, cruel and feared by many in his lifetime. Shrewd, corrupt and feared by millions in death. Dead? Not entirely. At least until now._

–

Vladislaus could not recall time nor place and certainly not how he came to be here. Chained to a rune etched rock in the middle of his father's dominion. He rolled his eyes at the thought of being summoned yet again and tried to think on the events leading up to his arrival in hell. His steel blue eyes traced the runes on the floor, admiring how droplets of blood -fresh and old alike- clung to the deeply etched sides, some trails drying out before pooling into the narrowed bottoms.

Crinkling his nose a bit he inhaled deeply, the thick slop of partially coagulated blood sliding down the back of his throat until a memory came to him. He decidedly remembered his deformed man servant strapping the Frankenstein Monster into the beautiful invention that would soon gift life to his undead children. Then his mind ran blank for a few moments, flashes and scents speeding past the forefront of his mind to the next broken memory.

Gabriel Van Helsing. But not entirely, no, for before his eyes the demigod transformed into one of the foul beasts Vladislaus called pets. Something immediately told him, however, that this pet wasn't wanting to play and he could almost feel now his skin ripping and muscles contorting to transform himself into his hell beast form. Claws lashed out spiraling him into his last gifted memory, the agonizing pain of his esophagus closing in, followed by his neck snapping under the muscled weight of the lycanthrope's hands.

And then nothing, until awaking upon his knees in his masters personal quarters upon a summoning stone reserved for the most wicked of Lucifer's children. He knew it wouldn't be long now before the great beast showed himself and gave him due penance for failing once again. The scene played out in his mind, segments of his previous visits melding together to create one possibility. Lucifer would scorn him and no doubt torture Vladislaus until the screams brought a mockery of joy to the horned things face. Eventually Lucifer would take a measure of pity upon his most beloved son and send him back to do his bidding, warning him of the punishments to come should another failure occur.

What could only be described as a 'tsk'-ing sound came from behind his view and so it was Master joined servant. "Vladislaus," Came the dark, rasping voice. "You have failed me for the last time!"

He braced himself, for he knew what was to come next.

A loud whoosh followed by the crack of Lucifer's fiery whip upon his back. Once. Twice. Three times before the beast spoke again. "I sent you back under the premise of destroying Gabriel Van Helsing," The booming voice paused only for the sound of heavy hooves to replace it, circling his hunched form until the great molten monstrosity came into his line of sight.

Vladislaus kept his head lowered in respect, eyes daring to gaze upon his father only in quick, stolen glances. "Father, I know I have failed you. But-"

"Save your simpering, boy! I have thought long and hard upon your failure, seeking the proper punishments out. For many years I have thought on you dearest Vladislaus." The monster's face contorted into what might have been a grimace of painful thought. "There is no reward in this punishment as there have been before. Time and again I have bent my will and sent you back as you have so desired." The whip raised again before painfully lashing around Vladislaus' neck, pulling him in closer to the inferno upon the beastly face. "You shall not be sent back under my favor," Lucifer pulled the vampire's face closer, delighting in the flesh that peeled away under the extreme heat. "Nor shall you be sent back to do my bidding. No, it would please you so for another chance." One more hard pull on the whip brought them almost nose to nose, "But you are going back for I will not be reminded of your failure any longer! You are no longer welcome in my dominion!"

Vladislaus opened his mouth to respond, but his words were stolen away by a much louder voice using the darkest and most ancient of languages, the force of them stealing the breath from his very lungs. Breath? Before he had a moment to think on it he could feel the layers of his flesh peeling away, followed by muscle and organ until there was naught left but the sound of his screams echoing in his ears.

_**Present Day; Castle Dracula**_

Madeline looked up from her dingy spot on the floor, face turning to the dusted windows and the fast disappearing sunlight. She knew the old fairy tales of Castle Dracula were untrue, but the Gods be damned, she hated the castle after nightfall. If she were to finish up in the ballroom she'd have to light the candelabras before the sun faded beyond the horizon.

Wringing the rag out into the bucket she rose, draping it over the side. "Sometimes I wonder why I ever took this job." A meow followed by the pitter patter of feline feet across the hardwood earned a smile from the girl. She bent slightly to pet the cat rubbing against her legs, "Binx, if it weren't for you I don't think I'd have the nerve to stay in this place at night."

Madeline had taken the job of caretaker to Castle Dracula solely based on the room and board clause of the nonexistent contract. She had been here for the past six months, scrubbing, waxing and sweeping for her keep. She had to admit she never expected to find something like this when she'd hit up the local paper in the wanted ads; surely something of this scale belonged in the turn of a few centuries ago, but she wasn't one to pass up on a good deal when she saw one.

Heading out of the musty ballroom she headed towards the kitchen in search of matches in the top drawer. As she moved down the silent and darkening halls she wondered why a place like this would have fallen into such disrepair when it at one time was a well known and frequented tourist destination. She supposed it had a little more than something to do with the near world wide recession and tourism dropping, well, off the map.

A loud, horror movie cliché type clap of thunder sounded, causing her to jump and Binx to sway in between her legs as she came upon the kitchen. "It's alright Binx," She said more for herself than her four legged friend, "Just a storm moving in." She made her business in the kitchen quick, nearly jogging down the halls back to the ballroom. Madeline would be loathe to admit it, but, thunder scared her absolutely shitless. As well as zombies, ghosts and anything outside a normal picture perfect day. That is to say that everything scared her. No need for her to play the hero for the thought alone made her quiver slightly.

Striking a match she lit a few candles before blowing it out at her fingertips and grabbed one to use as a way to light the rest in the room. After the task was finished she knelt beside her bucket, shuffling herself over slightly to begin working on a new spot of wood. The castle was quiet, eerily so and she began to hum to herself, hoping that maybe the sound of her own voice echoing across the large expanse of the room wouldn't be quite a frightening as nothing.

Her head perked up, hairs on the back of her neck rising to the occasion and eyes darting around the room. She wasn't quite sure but she may have just heard a noise, "Hello?" Her voice was timid at first, raising just slightly the second time, "Hello?"

Before she could even process the thought to ask if anyone was there a horrible noise sounded from behind her and she spun herself around so that she was on her bum, hands splayed out behind her. It sounded like the crack of a whip followed by the most unnatural screaming of a man. But there was no man slowly coming into view in front of her, no, it was a skeleton. Madeline wasn't sure but this may have been when she begun screaming, if not sooner.

The skeletal hands faced palm up as if the empty eye sockets were gazing at them in disbelief. Warm winds filled the room accompanied by orange and red sparks of light, swirling about the skeletal figure kneeling no more than five feet away from her. As she scrambled back she could see the winds and light coming together to deposit organs followed by tissue, skin and hair upon the skeleton. She was most definitely sure she was still screaming but was unable to hear herself over the howling winds and the screams coming from the -human?, no, certainly not- being before her.

If anything else happened she was positive she would be pissing her pants. Just as she began to prepare herself for the second pants wetting experience in her life the poor thing slumped over forward, all manner of noise -aside from her perpetual scream- ceasing at once. It took her a moment to realize that yes, it was in fact time to stop screaming for the sound was -if at all possible- frightening her even more.

Slowly she shifted from on her ass to a crawling position, moving inches at a time across the floor to the doorway. Smoke rose in heavy, sulfurous, wafts from the man before her. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Binx, fur all on end, slowly sniffing and approaching the man. "Binx," A small pleading whisper came from her, "Binx, come here."

The cat began to calm slowly until it's tail was the only part of the feline to show any signs of stress and gently rubbed against the man in front of the fireplace. Madeline watched on for a few moments as Binx continued to rub against the poor fellow before deciding if Binx was not afraid of this man, then she wouldn't be either.

With a set look of false determination she eased closer to him, looking for signs of life. By the God's she should be running away but it was, after all, her job to look after Castle Dracula. Thus included strange skeleton's that turned into men. _'Oh my God what the fuckamIdoing? Fight or flight, fight or flight, fight or flight-'_

Vladislaus coughed, his dry tongue grating across the roof of his mouth and smoke pouring out from his nostrils.

_'HOLYFUCKINGSHIT! FLIGHTFLIGHTFLIGHT!'_ Madeline scrambled to her feet, very intimidating floor scrubbing rag clutched in her hand. "Listen, ahem, LISTEN buddy!" She jumped a little at the sound of her own voice, "I don't know who or what you are but I can tell you you'd better get the FUCK out of my castle!"

Vladislaus struggled not only to right himself and sit back on his haunches without tumbling over, but to make sense of the situation. His vision was blurry at best, his sense of smell depleted by the stench of hell and his hearing was a bit off from the journey between worlds. God be damned forever he hated this part. Somehow he felt weaker, as if old age were to catch up to his immortal bones. It almost elicited a snort of laughter. Almost.

A very high pitched agitated voice made it through the haze as he sat himself upon the floor, legs tucked under him and arms out at the sides to support himself on the cold wooden floor. A floor he recognized well. Home? Castle Dracula in Romania? He remembered Lucifer mentioning something about blah blah he would have not a single pleasure on this trip. Ah, but to be home. Chancing a glance in the direction of the frantic very shy of threatening voice he sighed deeply.

"Woman I shall not be told to leave my own home! Can you not see I have just traveled from another WORLD to get here? No, I suppose not. The whole lot of you feeble minded hussies." Pushing himself to his knees he made to grip the mantle and pull himself to his feet. "Now," He began, taking a moment to rest his burning forehead on the mantle, "Might you tell me what you are doing in my home?"

What the fuck, was this guy crazy? Or wait, no, maybe it was she. After all she did just see a skeleton turn into a human in front of her eyes. "Your home? Oh no, I don't think so. I took this damned job so I would have room and board, not fucking SKELETONS appearing in the middle of the GOD damned BALLROOM!" She was surprised by herself but, she supposed, desperate times called for desperate measures. She was definitely going to have to get her head checked out after this one because she was sure that she had gone insane somewhere in the past six months.

A rasping laugh came from the man, "Tell me where is Madame Julia?"

Julia? He couldn't mean the sweet older woman she's accepted the job from, could he? "She is unavailable. I responded to a job listing in the paaa- Hey wait just one minute, mister...mister skeletor!" She pointed the limp rag at him accusingly before realizing herself and settled for a pointed finger from her free hand. "I want answers, preferab-" Madeline was forced to eat her words as the skeletor man thing began moving -albeit slowly- towards her. Perhaps this was her mid life crisis manifesting in some hellish delusion. She figured if it was in fact a hallucination she might muster up some courage and say something. But the way in which he dragged his feet across the floor, the slight scuffle resonating in the wide open space, it told her this was in fact happening.

"I am not this skeletor you speak of, Madame." He began moving towards her, hoping for intimidation in his weakened state. "I am Count Vladislaus Dracula, the master of this home and I demand at once to know just what is going on here." Pausing for a moment to catch his breath -breath? Stumbling past the girl he braced himself against the wall, eyes closed tightly before daring to gaze upon the mirror in front of him. "Be it not as I think." It was almost a silent prayer to himself, preparing for the outcome of gazing into the doorway. Slowly he peeled his eyes open, gazing upon his own reflection staring back at him. With a startled hiss he stumbled back from the mirror. "He has taken everything. Every last scrap of my being molded and tormented into his finest creation, for what?" His voice was sorrowful, for everything he had known in his centuries on Earth had just been erased.

Madeline raised a brow at the confession of his name, tracing his every move with her eyes and inched closer to the exit. Here it was, that final sinking feeling moving to her toes and inspiring her to flee from this insane nightmare.

"What year is it?" The thick Romanian accent traveled through the room as if it had long practice of doing so.

"It is two thousand eleven, just a few months before two thousand twelve." She halted in her retreat, although she was the world's biggest scaredy cat she was also always in pursuit of knowledge. And where this latest delusion was concerned there was a lot to be learned. "Just what the fuck is going on, exactly? Could you explain it to me because I am way passed freaked the fuck out, verging on pissed the fuck off and I really don't feel like taking 'the fucks' out for a walk right now!"

"So many years have passed, so ma-" He stopped himself raising his line of vision to the girl again, "Madame Julia, you must send for her at once, your answers lie with her." It took him a moment before his mouth curled slightly into a smirk, "Such vulgar language for a young girl. Excuse me for asking, but, I am unfamiliar with the terminology 'taking the fucks out for a walk?"

Yep. This was it. Her nosedive into insanity. Well, ought to roll with it until she could send for Miss Julia. "When I get aggravated," At this she began to pace frantically, "I get a lot of fucks trapped inside and I find it best to take them for a fucking walk." He seemed amused through a painful grimace which only angered her further. "You find this amusing do you? Materializing in a woman's not only place of work, but home and then laughing at said woman when she becomes freaked the fuck out? Well, I do not find it funny or amusing."

At this he did manage a laugh, although it was dry and extremely uncomfortable ending in a raspy cough. "As I told you, Madame, the answers you are looking for I can not give you. Now," Vladislaus moved slowly towards her, "be of some use and help skeletor into the kitchen."


End file.
